Feast of the Heart
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Lumiere engulfs himself in his second passion the night after they become human again.  Slash.


Title: "Feast of the Heart"  
>Author: Pirate Turner<br>Rating: PG-13  
>Summary: Lumiere engulfs himself in his second passion the night after they become human again.<br>Warnings: Slash, Het  
>Word Count: 2,245<br>Date Written: 27 August, 2011  
>Challenge: For the XDisneyDreamers LJ comm's weekly challenge<br>Disclaimer: Cogsworth, Lumiere, Beast, Belle, all other characters mentioned within, and Beauty and the Beast are © & TM Disney, not the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Food was a passion to Lumiere, and so it was, on the evening after he and every one else in the castle had at long last been restored to their true human forms, that Lumiere slipped away to the kitchen while every one else was going to bed. They had celebrated for hours on end, living through the dawn and not sleeping a wink, and it was beginning to catch up to everybody but him. Mrs. Potts and Maurice had shushed away the children hours ago, and when Chip had come looking for his Mama, she had retired. Every one else had gradually slipped off to bed until it had just been himself, Cogsworth, the Prince, and Belle left.

Cogsworth had told him to go to bed, and Lumiere had simply nodded, neither agreeing or denying his command. Had his lover offered him to retire to his bedroom along with him, Lumiere would have dashed off in a heartbeat, but though no longer a clock, his love had still been too rigid to make such a bold declaration. Besides, there was another passion calling Lumiere's name, and anticipation sang through every vein in his tall, lithe body as he sprang into the kitchen.

As the others slept, he danced and created. It had been far too many years since he had been able to delve so deeply into the kitchen. He had had to settle for instructing and overseeing others preparing his dishes while he had been a candlestick for to dip his flames into the food had caused too many disasters for Lumiere himself to be allowed to continue to cook. He had tried many times when they had first been cursed, but every attempt had ended in either sparking a fire or burning the food to a blackened crisp.

Losing his ability to cook had been one of the saddest things about being a candlestick to Lumiere, and he had suffered in silence, taking to singing and dancing instead of cooking to express his joy over food. Now, at long last, he could dip his fingers into the food again, and they thrilled almost as much at the touch of his ingredients as they had when he had ran his hands over Cogsworth's body and stolen him into the shadows while the Prince had been busy with his new Princess for a long and heated kiss.

He danced now as he cooked, his loud and proud voice filling the kitchen as he sang out his bursting happiness. He didn't care if he woke the others. He could scarcely believe they'd all opted to go to bed. Life was too grand, too wonderful, to spend any part of it sleeping when you could be doing something else!

He thrilled as he patted dough into cupcakes and rounded it into cookies. He took rapturous delight in licking clean his spoons, bowls, and even his own fingers. Flour shot across him, covering his fine clothes, but he didn't care. After all, he'd worn the same outfit for centuries! He laughed it off, spun through the kitchen, and pulled out a tray of delightful scones.

The scones were for Mrs. Potts and the cupcakes and cookies for the children. He made muffins, breads, and puddings of every sort. He crooned his approval when the butcher brought in the morning's kill, sent the hunter away with a small cake all for himself, and then dressed the boar to the nines before setting it to roast for his Master. He recreated every dish Belle had ever complimented, and he made pies. He made strawberry, blueberry, peach, cherry, apple, raspberry, mincemeat, and even rhubarb pies. He used some of everything he had on hand to create a double dozen quiche and then started over again with the pies and pastries.

He rushed between the kitchen and the dining room, filling the long banquet table with every dish imaginable and a dozen new dishes for which he did not even yet have names, and all the time, he danced. He spun on his heels and tapped his ankles. He waltzed through the rooms and sang his joy. At long last, he was back! He was human again, and he could cook once more!

He was covered from head to foot in flour with only the tip of his long nose sticking out when Mrs. Potts bustled into the kitchen. Her intent had been to set on the morning tea, and she stopped and looked around her in amazement. "My goodness!" she exclaimed, seeing food on every available space. "There's nowhere to sit the tea! Lumiere, dear, what have you been doing all night?"

"Creating!" Lumiere sang. He grasped her hands and swung her into his impromptu dance, and though Mrs. Potts giggled like a school girl as he danced with her, when their dance stopped so that he could pull out the cookies, she looked at him with worry. The sweet boy had been cooking all night, and that meant he'd gone for over twenty four hours without a wink of sleep. She shook her head and left the room with worry dawning over her aging, motherly features - but not before grabbing a raspberry cheesecake scone.

Lumiere barely noticed the housekeeper's departure and instead continued to dance around the room as he set the latest batch of cookies out, placing them at an angle on top of two other trays. He really had to thank his Master for making certain that they had enough trays for cooking, although he was down to his last three dishes, Lumiere thought with just the slightest pout, the closest he'd come to a frown with his human mouth since it had been restored. "Oh, well," he murmured and set immediately back to making pies.

Belle, Maurice, and the children drifted through next, and Lumiere sent them to the dining room where they had no end of delectable foods from which to choose. Still, the children, unobserved by Mrs. Potts who was busy elsewhere, ran through his kitchen, eager to taste every different type of cookie he'd baked during the night. They streaked through his kitchen, bringing dirt and raucous laughter with them, but Lumiere only smiled, tossed back his head, and joined in their laughter.

"I called a meeting. Where were you?"

The voice stopped the laughing French man dead in his tracks. He turned to meet his lover with a smile that would not be disturbed despite his annoyed tone. "Look around you, Cogsworth."

Cogsworth was doing just that, his beady, brown eyes darting over the counters and chairs. Lumiere had even dragged extra chairs into the kitchen during the night to put more food on them. "Or, better yet, taste around you," Lumiere added with a grin. He turned from him, picked up a stack of pies, and turned back to him. "These are all for you."

"For . . . For me?" Cogsworth blustered, his thunder drained. He marched forward, stuck his finger in a pie, and licked off the gooey berry. "Mmm! Strawberry!"

"And blueberry, and cherry, and apple, and peach, and rhubarb, and lemon meringue, and mincemeat too!" Lumiere sang. "All for you!" Cogsworth barely managed to react in time to keep from dropping the pies as Lumiere thrust them into his hands.

"You've . . . You've been here all night!" Cogsworth declared in amazement.

Lumiere just grinned. "Oui," he agreed and turned back to his oven. For the first time since they'd become human again, tiredness touched him as he withdrew another pan filled to overflowing with pastries. He set them next to a dozen triple layered cakes covered with rich and gooey frosting. He stifled a yawn, but Cogsworth caught it.

His heart warmed even more. "You've been cooking," he declared softly, "all night."

"Oui," Lumiere shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Another yawn came, and this one broke free from his restraints. He covered his mouth with his hand and then popped a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth to distract it. He wasn't ready to go to bed!

"See?" Mrs. Potts asked, coming into the kitchen and stepping up to Cogsworth. She cleaned her hands on an apron. "I told you he's been up all night. Poor lamb!" She looked compassionately upon Lumiere and grabbed another of the scones he'd made especially for her.

Cogsworth sighed, but a grin still tugged at his mouth. "Then I think it's time we celebrate again," he announced, "but in the privacy of my bedroom." Lumiere looked at him in surprise as Cogsworth laid down his pies. "The meeting I called was to let every one know that his Majesty declared today an official holiday."

"Again?" Lumiere asked in surprise.

"I know. I'm astonished, too," Cogsworth admitted, looking him up and down. Despite his sweetheart's jovial mood, he saw the redness in his eyes and the dark bags growing beneath them. He noticed his frenzied hair, his haphazard clothing, and the fact that his mouth was trying to open in a yawn every time Lumiere wasn't busy stuffing pastries into it. "As the head of the servants, I believe it best we all take advantage of it."

Mrs. Potts smiled but said naught a word. Cogsworth's declaration was very far from what he had said in the actual meeting, telling every one to make sure their chores were still performed today despite the holiday.

"We shall go to my bedroom, I believe, and spend most of the day there." He stopped as he noted Chip's blonde head bobbing up behind a quadruple layered, chocolate cake. "Playing games, of course."

"Of course," Mrs. Potts chimed in, beaming brightly. "Shall I tell the others," she suggested softly, "that today's plans are off?"

Lumiere's head was beginning to nod, and his eyes had drifted shut despite the sugared roll of dough that he'd been aiming for his mouth. "Yes, yes, of course," Cogsworth babbled. "Can't have them working when I shan't be there to oversee them, after all." He stepped up to Lumiere and draped his arms around him. "Lumiere, wake up."

"Hmm?"

"To my bed," Cogsworth instructed.

"Oh? To your bed, mon cherie?" Lumiere repeated, his eyes popping back open and lighting with excitement. He grinned. "I've been waiting all night for you to ask, mon amour!" he said and then, before Cogsworth could stop him, he tickled him. Cogsworth bowled over with laughter. "The last one to the bed," Lumiere whispered quietly so that only his love could hear him, "is as hard as an object." His head drifted lower, tickling him still, and then he pulled away from his arms and darted up the stairs.

Mrs. Potts watched with quiet and happy approval as Cogsworth, beaming with true, glowing, and complete happiness for the second time in all too long, turned to chase after his boyfriend. He paused only long enough to grab two spoons, some napkins, and his pies, and then he headed after him. Cogsworth knew he'd find Lumiere passed out when he arrived. He'd eat some pie and then hold him for some hours as he let him sleep. When his lover again awoke, Cogsworth would feed him some of his delectable goodies, and then together, they would celebrate their life, love, and happiness as they should have long ago.

Cogsworth still had a multitude of duties to which he would have to see, but they would wait another day. They would wait, he thought, and never again would he place them above Lumiere. They had a second chance at life now, thanks to the love that their Prince had found in Belle, and whereas their love was just beginning, Cogsworth had had his all these many years and never once stopped to fully appreciate it. That would never, he vowed, happen again!

He entered his bedroom to the sound of soft snoring and placed his pies on the stand next to his bed. He laid the spoons and napkins next to them before slipping into bed and pulling Lumiere close to him. He kissed his forehead as he whispered softly, "I love you." He'd tell him again when he awoke that he loved him, and never again, he swore, would he make the mistake of waiting to tell him. He'd keep seeing to his duties in the castle, but from this day forward, he would never waste another moment to tell Lumiere how much he loved him and show him how important he was to him!

Lumiere's snores grew louder, and Cogsworth reached for his strawberry pie, grinning and glowing with his happiness. Cogsworth oohed and ahhed over his yummy pie which his love had created especially for him, but all the time, he kept looking forward to the most wonderful dessert that would follow. He'd finish his pie and then cuddle with Lumiere until he awoke. Then he'd love and thank him openly, apologize for not having invited him back into his arms and his bed sooner, show him he'd never left his heart, and keep loving him always.

Like the Prince and his Princess, they had a second chance to live their love, and together, they would always fulfill it forever more and live and love each other alone for all eternity! He ate the last bite of his strawberry pie, discarded the left over items, and wrapped his arms around his beloved Lumiere. He cuddled to him, holding him tight, and together, side by side, they lived happily ever after.

**The End**


End file.
